There But For the Grace of God Go I
by FreezeDriedRose
Summary: Aiden is offered an olive branch from a very unexpected source.


I may rewrite this at some point because it didn't really turn out the way I envisioned it. It was very difficult to arrange my thoughts about these two characters in any sort of linear order.

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Isaac couldn't quite believe he was still standing here. The twins had been involved in the deaths of two of his best friends, not to mention god knows how many others. Ethan may have redeemed himself a little by helping Scott rescue Mrs McCall, unwilling to let her die after she'd saved Danny's life, but Aiden made no secret of the fact that he'd only dissolved his allegiance to the alpha pack because Deucalion had made it clear that the twins were only useful to him as a pair. And nothing would make it alright that the identical alphas had thereafter apparently become unofficial members of the group, as if they could simply slip into the places of the pack members they had brutally murdered. Isaac despised them unequivocally. Or at least he had.

Ever since Scott had recounted to him the story of how Ethan and Aiden had joined Deucalion's pack, questions had been forcing their way into his mind. He had tried his best to push them back out again, afraid of the answers he might come to, but they were relentless. At the heart of it all was one persistent nagging voice, constantly repeating the thought that scared him the most. _Perhaps we're not all that different._

He knew what it was like to live in fear, never knowing when the next hit would come. To feel weak, helpless, completely unable to defend himself. And then to be given power, more than he had ever dared to dream of. To be stronger than those who had used their strength to beat him down. What if he hadn't had the memories of the man his father had once been to stay his hand? Would he have slaughtered him like the twins had done their pack?

When Lydia and Jackson had become their prime suspects in the hunt for the kanima, he'd had no second thoughts about trying to kill them. He wished he could say it was because he was concerned about the loss of innocent lives, but it had felt so good to have the opportunity to get revenge on people who had spent years making him feel like nothing; like his existence wasn't even worthy of their acknowledgement. To be able to throw Jackson around like a ragdoll, to strike fear into him after Isaac had spent years in terror of his father's power, it was a potently addictive feeling. If things had gone differently; if Scott hadn't intervened, would he have killed them? He couldn't be sure.

Aiden and Ethan _had_ killed Boyd and Erica, who had never and would never hurt anyone. It wasn't the same. But it was nevertheless a little too similar for comfort. Had they trusted Deucalion and his orders the way Isaac had trusted Derek?

Derek had been far from an ideal alpha, that was for sure, especially in the beginning. At times his actions had been little better than Isaac's father's. But Isaac had been reassured by the fact that whatever happened, he had _chosen_ this himself. For the first time in his life, he was in control, never again to be at his father's mercy. He was free. And though Derek was far from perfect, the first thing he had taught Isaac was how to control himself; how to prevent himself from hurting innocents. What if, instead of Derek, he'd been found by someone like Deucalion? What might he have become?

Isaac also remembered how confusing and unsettling it had been when Scott had first expressed concern for him. He hadn't been able to trust anyone since his brother had died, hadn't been given the slightest reason to, so he couldn't allow himself to believe that Scott's kindness was genuine. Derek was using him, he knew that, but at least he was honest about it. Isaac knew exactly where he stood. It had taken time and persistence for Scott to prove himself to Isaac, but he had done so beyond a shadow of a doubt, and more than that he had inspired Isaac. He'd shown Isaac he could be something better. Was Aiden as afraid of trusting Scott now as Isaac had once been?

Those were the questions that had brought Isaac to where he was now; lingering in an empty classroom with Aiden who had once again spectacularly overreacted to something Scott had said and launched himself at the other werewolf. Isaac and Ethan together had only just managed to hold him back. Scott had recognised that the best thing he could do was remove himself from the situation until Aiden calmed down. The expression he faced the volatile alpha with just before he left the room had been one of frustration, but also of forgiveness. Ethan had shot his brother a chastising glare as he too left the room, leaving only Isaac, who struggled to figure out what he should say. He may have more things in common with Aiden than he'd like to admit, but the alpha still had a very long way to go.

"You can trust Scott," was what he eventually came up with. "I know you feel like you can't, but you can."

Aiden snorted derisively. "What? You've decided to act like we're friends all of a sudden?"

"No. You _killed_ two of my friends. I'll never forgive you for that. But we don't necessarily have to be enemies either."


End file.
